Transport CS to appoint new airports agency boss

The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) will have a new chief executive this week after directors of the State agency finally interviewed candidates in a search that has been halted thrice.

Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said he would name the substantive CEO before Wednesday, after the airports agency board presented three names to him to make his choice.

The authority has been without a substantive head for more than a year now following the resignation of Lucy Mbugua.

Efforts to replace her have run into hurdles three times.

“I received the three names on Saturday and I will make an appointment by Wednesday,” said Mr Macharia last week. “This is a delicate process and we cannot share the names now to avoid interference.”

In the earlier bungled process, the authority had on November 20 last year advertised the managing director’s vacancy, receiving more than 120 applicants.

Mr Macharia, however, cancelled the recruitment and appointed consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct the exercise afresh amid intrigues by parties with vested interests in the position.

PwC presented six candidates who were interviewed by the board.

Previous efforts have been interfered with by corruption claims, with former KAA Chairman David Kimaiyo saying some State officials and directors were keen to have the position filled by their cronies.

“The process of appointing a new head at the airport has been marred by a lot of interference from the senior government officials and the directors at the board,” said Mr Kimaiyo.

“There has been intense lobbying by people who want to ensure that they put in place their right hand man in order to cut lucrative deals at the airport,” added the former police boss.

President Uhuru Kenyatta last month replaced Mr Kimaiyo with former Kenya Defence Force head Julius Karangi.

About 13 other senior managers are currently serving in an acting capacity. Mr Macharia has said recruitment of these officials would be done once the position of managing director has been filled.

Mystery also surrounds the launching of the new arrival terminals that has been cancelled three times.

The commissioning that was to be done by President Kenyatta was first called off in April. Two other cancellations were made last month.

The new terminals 1A and 1E separate arriving passengers from the ones departing, which is a key security requirement under international aviation standards, meeting one of the conditions issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration before Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi is elevated to a category 1 status, which will allow for direct flights between the pair.